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THE :^EDICATION OF x 

ERECTED 

BY THE COUNTY OF GLOUC 

TO 

THE SOLDIERS WHO FELL IN THE 
REBELLIOiN, 



BY 



REV. MR. J. F. GARRISON, 

JAMES WILSON, ESQ". 

SENATOR F. T. FRELINGIIUYSEN, 



AT WOODBUEY, N. J. MAT SOth, 1867. 




WOODBURT, N. j. 
PRINTED AT TUE CONSTlXUTIOJl OWICE, 

1807. 



' -;^<C:^d^^ -^ ^ — -^^ 



ADDRESSES, 



DELIVERED AT 



THE DEDICATION OF THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, 



ERECTED 



BY THE COUNTY OF GLOUCESTER, 



TO 



THE SOLDIERS WHO FELL IN THE LATE 
KEBELLIOiN, 



BY 



REV. MR. J. F. GARRISON, 

JAMES WILSON, ESQ. 

SENATOR F. T. FRELINGHUYSEN, 



AT WOODBUEY, N. J. MAY 30th, 1867. 



WOODBXTRY. N. J. 
PRINTED AT THE CONSTITUTION OITICE, 

1867. 



,8388aaaa/ 



^ 



ADDRESS OF REV. MR. GARRISON. 



Friends and Fellow- Citizens 0/ Glouce*ter Co : 
Ttie occiibiuD of our gaihetiiig lo d \,y is one 
of siriiDgelv mingled j ^y and sunow. We 
come 10 borrow with a group of mournerti, 
who will here renew ibe auguisb of iheir 
parting from the loved am) iuyl; to bow our 
head;i above the grave where faihers and 
mothers are burying again ihe feon of their 
atfeciioQs; to stand betide the lonely wife; to 
pily the bereaved children, as they live over 
in freih hiilerness. the wailing hour when 
they tirsl knew that ihey Wt-re tatherless and 
widowed. s\h come, friends, neighbors, kins 
fo'k, to weep togeiher at ihw tomb of those 
whose loss we feel 10 be a grief to all. They 
are not s rangers whose memory we mourn 
and honor h^re. They are our own, all our 
own. There comes the vision of some well 
known form to every eye. We only need to 
listen, lo Cktch the tone of some familiar 
voice. Who does not see them now, as file by 
file, they marched away, no more lo come 
agiin; and strong men, as they passed along, 
bid them •'God be with you." then turned 
afide 10 weep ? And with the solemnity of a 
Borrow in wnich each one has a share, we ded- 
icate this monument as "sacred 10 ihe mem- 
ory of our patriot deid, whose lives were 
given for the saving of ihe nation." 

But it is not all sorrow that has brought 
us here to day. The monument we conie to 
dedicate tells us not only of the death of those 
whose names are carved upon its tablets, but 
of the grandeur of the cause for which they 
died, the priceless blessing they sought lo 
work out for their nation, fur all man's after 
history. And when Ihe hitter anguif<h of tlif 
loss ha.s gone, there is not a child who will 
not feel a loftier manhood in him to know hi.s 
father'fe name is graven on ihat noole roll call 
of the heroes of the Union: and though ii 
will not take away the grief of the wife or 
parent, yet even they cannot stand here with 
out a thrill of honorable pride that they may 
claim BO large a portion of the cosily offering 
that saved the life of the republic 

Death came to those we are commemorating 
here, as it must come to all; but by their 
wok and in their death, they did what was 
far be'ter than the longest life. The great 
thing f )r a man is not how Img he live, but 
what he (4oe8 with 1 fd. what fruits come from 
it, what good he leaves behind him for the al- 
ter ages It is a mean, 1< w view of 1 fe and 
duty that makes mere living the chief aim of 
thought The man who is not willing to 
8tnke life for some loved truth, who does not 
ffcl some irinc'ple or cause so grand and vi- 
tal, that he is ready to brave death to hold it 



up and bear It forward, has no right (bought 
ot what lite i.", nor why ii had been given him. 
War is a tearful evil, and prayer should 
daily ri e from every household iu the land 
thai We may evermore be spared its horrors ; 
hut war is by no means the worst that can be- 
fal a nation. It is tar worse to have a people 
grown ^o selfish that they will not fight, and 
if need be die, for tier preservation ; far 
worse to have the souls of a p»ople so dwarf- 
ed down to the mere greed of money getting 
(hat ihey care more fir bonds and stocks, and 
farm and market, than for the maintenance of 
the government and the safety of the repub- 
lic. The signs that mark corruption in a peo- 
ple are not the manliness that sa^s. "I feel 
that I am rijtht before God and will maintain 
ii life for lif ;" not the courage that upheaves 
a nation as one man to drive off the invader 
of its hearthstones, or to arrest the torient of 
rebellion. W'here these aie, although in Ihe 
fierce tumult of the cont-ist there may be, 
there will be much that is sad and terrible, 
much often lhat is unregulated nnd uncontrol- 
lable, yet at least there is self-devotion, a 
^ense of something hifjher than mere self, 
sonntbing that gives dignity, lhat shows a 
I )fty spirit of belief in what is tought lor. 
The man who braves death for a principle, or 
goes into a battle for a cause that he bilieves 
13 right has in the very eHrne»tnes3 that wil- 
lingly risks life f.ir something other 1 han him- 
self, ihe germ of a iruer, loftier manhood, 
ih'in he who j-hudderingly fl.'te every danger, 
if he may only keep his own selfish pleasure 
and lengthen out his own oiteti worthless 
'lays Times when the people of a nati>.>n are 
willing to do battle, and. it it mu-tbe. die for 
Iter, these are not ti e times of national decny 
and downfall. When men think the only sim 
of living is to seek for plea.«ure o- gather 
money, when they feel no principle worth dy- 
ing for, when ease and quiet are more than 
right, when '•!' am mce than "the nation," 
when "mine" is hig-her than the preservation 
of a vitHl truth, ih>'n is the people's spirit 
poor and dying, then is the nation's I fe de- 
parting Corruption is already fes'cring at 
the centre of her being She will S'on be a 
despised and rolling carcass, and where the 
carcass is Ihe eagles soon will gather. No 
nation evei prew to greatness whce people 
were not willing for her sake lo offer up. if 
called, their lives in her deliverance. Only 
through some great struggle, in which they 
laid upon the altar of the biitle field Ihe sac- 
rifice of many of their bravest and Iheir best, 
did any people ever maintain a noble truth 
or fill a lotly place in human story. It was 



»3 



through such a conflict that our land gained 
its tirat cousecratioa to a pUce among the 
powers of the eaith. The t'onudmions if ibe 
mighty edifice were laid of living stones, oi 
men, who built ttietr lives into the walls, and 
filled the temple with their spirit. And ii wa^ 
for the holiliug up and keeping safe ihe su 
perstrncture of this glorious building that we 
were c*lUd to enter on the struggle in ffhich 
these brave men give themselves the sacrifice 
and without which al; that had be. n done be 
fure would have been crumbled into ruin. Ii 
■was H costly price to pay, but f recious bles- 
sings can be purchase^J only by the richest of 
ferings. There is a story of old Rome, that 
in the time of a destroying pestilence, a hugf 
gulf opened in the forum, and when the priect? 
asked of the oracle how they might end the 
the plague and close the yawning chasm, the 
answer was "by throwing in the costliest gift 
within th' keeping of the nation." Gold, sil 
ver, preciou! things innutuerahle, were casi 
into the gaping ruin; but still the plague 
raged on and still the gulf yawned wide and 
fearful. When a young Knight, Marcus Cur 
tins, clad in all his arms and on his noblest 
steed, rode solemnly among the trembling 
crowd, and said : " The worthiest gift a na 
tion has is her brave men;" and sprang into 
the dark abyss The vast sides heaved to 
gether, and the death plague ceased. He had 
the answer. A nation's richest treasure is 
her brave, true men. And when the threat 
ening chasm of disunion cleft wide in our 
trembling State, an*-treason like a pestilence 
was eating out the vitals of the land, we, too, 
must throw in our costlieft gift; and in they 
sprang (o make the offering, not one lone 
knight, but half a million of the sons and 
fathers of the nation. 

And it is meet to stand before this menu 
ment, with bar«>d and bended heid. as by an 
altar on which we had laid our portion of the 
pricele!8 sacrifice How they come trooping 
UD to take their places, from the sad records 
of the fierce battle fields on which they died ! 
As they sweep by, a shadowy host, each tel 
ling his own story, we tread over, step by 
step, the dark hours of that fearful rnr time 
How swift, yet clear, the scanes and actors 
crowd upon our thoughts! The earthquake 
shock that heaved the nation as it beard the 
suicidal cannon booming over Charleston har 
bor; Ihe stern yet calm determination felt in 
every heart that the repub'ic should not per 
ish ; the first dL^aP'rous fight; the hunyan' 
hopes that 'On to Richmond" soon would end 
the bitte^ and unnatural conflict Then came 
the weary, wasting campaign on the Penin?u 
la, and we were saddened almost every hour 
to hear the tidings of some new among the 
dead. We call up the long stubborn day at 
Williamsburg, where the 2d Jerj-ey Brigade, 
couched in the swampy timber, bore hour af- 
ter hoar, the murderous assault of OTerpoir- 



ering numbers, and yet kept it against all iin- 
lil the victory was w >n. We seem again to 
hear the dark rumors and ihea the sickening 
truth of the we* k of battle before Richmond, •. 
where the Ist .lersey Brigade stood so large a ' 
share of the fierce onslaught and heavy loss 

• if the first day's brave but ineff' ctuul defence. 
We are summoned once more to the ill omen- 
ed scenes around Manassas. We wail, as we 
then waited, for the dead from Antietam. 
Some rise from the fatal slope of fiery Fred*" 
erickfburg Soiiie speak from the emouidtr-" 
ing woods of lost Chancellorsville. Many 
recall the deep "Thank God" with which wft 
heard, upon the nation's birth day, the rolling 
back of the bold, bafii d Lee, from the ter- 
rific onset upon the bills at Oeitytburg. We 
hear from somj the shout of victory ot the 
(ersei 9ih, as they storm into the defences of 
Roamke and sweep resistless over Newbern 
bridge. Up others come from the valley of the 
Shenandoah, under the great leadership of the 
tlear-headed Sheridan. How they rite thick 
and fast hU along that mighty battle march of 
the unwavering Grant, from the Wilderness to 
Petersburg, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, ia 
the trenches of the long siege; in the wonder- 
ful campaign of Sherman; under the walls of 
doomed Charleston. Where do they not come 
from ? To what battle field have we not sent 
one or many who say there in their dying, we 
here give ourselves the needed offering for the 
saving of the nation. 

And here, too, are names known over all 

• he land. Not braver nor better than many 
who will be remembered only within ti e nar- 
row range of their own home and neighbors, 
hut whom a higher rank has maiked on the 
hi-itoric page among ihe hoij'>red list of those 
who nave deserved well of the republic. The 
names of Brigadier Generals Joshua B How- 
ell and George D. Bayatd and Majir General 
Ohailes G Haiker are national as well as pe- 
culiaily our own. 

In almost every battle of the first campaign 
on the Peninsula, at Williamsburg, at Frir 
Oaks, protecting the retreat on Harrison's 
Landing, Gen Howell bore a prominent and 
ifien a disiinguished part. He was the first 
to land his troops upon the Island that gave 
our forces their firm foothold for the siege of 
Charleston: was commandant at Hilton Head, 
and shared with honor in the Army of the 
•lamep; and everywhere maintained a repuia- 
tion high and growing for all the noble traits 
that are essential to the character of gentle- 
man and soldier. 

General George D Bayard, although but 28 
years old. when he tell on the field of Freder^ 
i(!k.«burg, had already shown himself a worthy 
inheritor of a name distinguished in the an- 
nals of the Revolution, and made him-»elf pre- 
eminent for bravery and hkill among the fore- 
most Generals of the Army of the Potomac. 
As leader of cavalry, he had been marked 



4 f 



from the beginning of the war for hia wise en- I The war was not, upon ihe nation's side, » 
ergy and BuccesBful daring; and it wa* large- contest for the increase or maintenance of 
ly to his ability and watchful xeal the arnoy power. Neither was it for the barren glory 
was indebted for its preser»aiion in the disss- 1 of asserting some Tain point of wounded pride 
trouH conflicts of the second campaign of Ma- | or touchjr honor. It wis a struggle for the 
naseas and the subsequent retreat on Wash I existence of the nation, and for principles 
ington. in which he fully merited the honor I ihat are essential to the being of any peraia- 
given him by Gen. Pope, in his official notice: | nent republic. The effects of the secession 
■•GenrralP Bayard and B.iford commanded ,he I movement, had it succeeded, would not have 



cavalry belongifig to the Army of Virginia. Their 
daiiei wer^ peculiarly arduouo and hazirtnus. and 
it it not loo much to any lhat thronghoui the opera- 
tiuiii. from ih' fi'tt to the >aet day "f the campaign 
scarcel) a day MaKfed that these oflicers did not ren- 
der service which entitles them to the gratituae of 
the Governmeni " 

Among the group of noble men who were 
gathered around Sherman in his campaign 
from Chattanooga to Atlanta, there was no 
one who promised higher, had his life been 
spared, than M"jor Qeneral Charles G. Bar- 
ker. Born in 1885 the same year with Gen. 
Bayard, he had, like him. just touched the 
verge of early manhood, when he attained so 
high a reputation as a soldier and a man 
The records of the army of the west show him 
continually rising in distinction and regard 
At Shiloh. at Corinth, at Stone River, we find 
him increasingly more brought to notice. At 
Cbickamauga he w.is one of the most distin- 



ceased with only the dividing of (he country 
into two Governments, but would have been the 
oommencement of an endless serifS of divi- 
sions and have doomed every portion to con- 
tinual war and misery. Whenever any sec- 
tion of the land, or any State of cither part 
grew restive bscause it could not wield the 
Government in its own interest, there would 
have been a new secession and a still further 
disorganizing of the nation. Whoever sought 
a change that could not be attained by peace- 
ful means would have demanded it by arms. 
On every petty pretext, feud would have fol- 
lowed feud, and drenched the land with blood, 
rhe clashing interests of the divided parts 
must have provoked perpetual hostility; in- 
cessant confiicts would have desolated the 
embittered sections ; and instead of one uni- 
ted people at peace in ourselves and mighty 
for the cause of liberty and right, we should 
have become a wretched class of ungovcrna- 



guished of the heroic band who rallying 'j^ ^^j ^^^^^H^ ^^g^^^yi^g fragments. 



around General Thotnap, retrieved the fortunes 
of that bloody field. When Gen. Howard took 
command of the 4th Corps, 

"I was Kurpriaed and pleased," he writes, "to find 
lhat fo ynjng a man hnd won the complete cimfi- 
dei.ce of the commanding General of Ihe Depart 
roent. The only complnint thit I ever heard was 
lhat if Marker got Rtar'ed against the eiipmy he C'>uld 
not be kepi back. Vel I never knew him other 
Itian cool and selt po8HeB^ed. Whenever anyihirg 
diflficult was to he done, anything that req'iired pe 
culiar p'uck and en'-rgy we called on Gtn Marker. 
At Rocky Fiice, where his Division wre»t»-d ^»ne 
hall oi lhat wondertul whII of Birength (rom the 
Rebe's ; at Renaca, where he leuacionMly held a li':e 
of work* clone uiid< r the Rebel fire; at D:illas 
where lor several days he hammered the Rebel 
works at a distance of lers than a liundred ynrd>< ; 
at Mud Oetk where he reinlnrced the ^kTnli.■^herM 
arid directed th*>ir movements with so much nkill 
and V gor as to take and hold a strong line of th** 
ent-my'- earthworkti; at K'^nesaw where hf led the 
terrible assault on the enemy's breastworks, and 
met hit death; in fact, in every place whfre ttte 
Corp* haH beeo engaged, this noble voung man ear- 
nemly and hear ily purformed his part." 

So high the names, so many the long roll 



But this was only one phase of the great 
stake depending. on the contest. There was 
another and still more essential issue involved 
in the decision of our struggle. Is it possi- 
ble for a republic to be a government of law 
and order and stability? The world had seen 
many republics, and under various conditions, 
but they had nil failed. And be one rock on 
which they stranded had always been the un- 
willingness of the people to submit themselves 
in time.') of great excitement or under the im- 
pulse of strong passion, to the control of the 
established principles of their own organic 
law and government. It is a very flattering 
thing for a people to believe that their opin- 
ion and their will must necessarily and at all 
times be right and best. It is a very insid- 
ious plea, that as the power belongs to them 
of originally making their own constitution, 
they may in any crisis they shall d^ero suffi- 
cient, disregard the fftrms and principles of 
their own fundamental law and gain the end 
I bay seek by any means that seem to them 
best fitted to the purpose : but t^e rapuUs of 



call of the numbers we here record, as our ! the experience of centuries have given one un- 
portion of the tribute for the defence and de i varying answer to all such views of govern- 
liverance of the republic. It was a fearful I ment. Whenever any people have gi^own so 
price to pay, but great as it was, the cause | disloyal to their established constitution that 
Wis worthy of the sacrifice; and we can mea- the will of any section or of any party is al 



sire our full obligation to these brave men 
only when we regard the imminence of ruin 
w'lich was then threatening the nation, and 
fesl the Tital import of the principles wbicli 
ir«r« ftt itfuxa ia the oonfliot. 



lowed to override the settled principles on 
which the whole is founded, they soon will 
make their supreme law. not a fixed rule by 
which all are to b« gorerned, or which they 
must ftller ia the waj of ttieir own origiaftl 



ordaiainff, but a mere dead letter which gives 
no protection to the weak, and forms no ob- 
stacle to check the violence or hinder the ex- 
cesses of the strong. To-day, one faction, in 
its hasty zeal, throws down the barriers that 
lie between it and the object it desires; to- 
morrow comes another, and in revenge sweeps 
off all that would stay the torrent of its an 
gry passion; and thus the walls on either side 
uptorn, the goodly heritage is epen to the 
wild beasts of lawless rage and party interest, 
and its beauty is soon trampled under fool, 
and all its glorious fruitage crushed into the 
mire. Once cut the river banks and no man 
then can set a limit to the desolations of the 
drowning waters. Each form of government 
has its peculiar danger, and this unwillingness 
to bind its present impulses by settled law, 
is the especial peril of republics, the one to 
which they have the greatest and most plau- 
eible temptations. It often seems in times of 
high excitement to be a matter of vast mo- 
ment to drive straight on t> our end. We are 
in haste; the need is pressing; the laid-out 
road is long; why tarry in its windings? 
Down with the fences, through the fields, over 
the gardens, and swiftly and safely we have 
reached the mark. But what one does, an- 
other follows. The very success of one un- 
authorized departure from the legal road, is 
used to justify their disregard for right by 
others, who have no reason for their headlong 
course, but their own wilfulness and uncon 
trolled desires. And in the long result of 
years, the only security for any right, or in 
stitution, is that we keep faithfully wall d in 
the known established roads, and travel stead- 
ily along the ordered highway, which was 
prepared originally by the will of all, and for 
the good of all. 

"The way of ancient ordinance though it winds, 
Is yet no devious way. Straight forward goes 
The lightning's path, and straight the feariul path 
Of the cannon ball. Direct ii flies and rapid ; 
Shattering that it miy reach, and shattering what i< 
reaches. 
The road, the human being travels. 
That on which blessing comes and goes, dot h follow 
The river's course, the valley's playful windings; 
Curves round the corn-fields and the hill of vines. 
Honoring the holy t)ound8 ol property ! 
And thus secure though late, leads to its end." 

When Liberty is willing thus to bind itself 
by law, then it becomes the loftiest exhibition 
of a nation's greatness and the highest attain 
ment we can ever hope in human government, 
but Liberty that will nor, be restrained by its 
own appointed Constitution is only a delusion, 
and means the domination of the strongest, 
enforcing their arbitrary purposes without re 
gard to anything but their own will; and the 
will of thirty millions, under intense excite- 



ment, is just as apt to be in error as the opin- 
ion of an individual, is just as capricious and 
unreliable as the whims of a single tyrant. 
We see this in the constant change of t arty 
rule; the varying popularity of individuals. 
Those who at one time can hardly gain a hear- 
ing, at another ride triu Dphant over every ob- 
stacle, and again often sink into a paltry and 
despised minority. Those who to- day etrew 
palm trees in the way and shout ho!<anna8 in 
applause, to morrow may be joining in the 
cry of "Crucify him, crucify him." The 
grand superiority and only safety of a repub- 
lic, is that it shall be governed upon principles 
agreed to by the wnole, and to be steadily 
maintained by all, and not dependent on the 
fancies of a dp.spot or the unbridled will of 
changing factions. 

And ilie great issue in the war of the rebel- 
lion was not any mere local or temporary in- 
terest or institution; but to assert that all 
should obey law as law, or alter it in the ap- 
pointed way; to establish that we mean to be 
a law-abiding nation, not a jarring bundle of 
miserable fragments ; that the people may be 
trusted with the power of government because 
they are as willing to be bound by law as to 
contend for liberty. 

We had announced at our beginning as a 
nation, and as the very key note of our being, 
the great principle that man ought to be cared 
for and legislated for as man and not aa brute 
or chattel; that there should be freedc/fii to the 
individual as well as independence to the gov- 
ernment. And yet, notwithstanding this deep 
instinct of the national spirit opposed to sla- 
very, so strong was the conviction of the par- 
amount importance of obedience to law and to 
constitutional authority, that on the very 
morning of the assault on Fort Sumter the 
great body of the North would have taken 
arms to forbid the overthrow of slavery by an 
unauthorized assailant, rather than allow the 
nation's supreme law to be defied by any un- 
constitutional endeavor to destroy the incubus. 
But when the thunders of the cannon storming 
down the nation's flag proclaimed that slavery 
had armed itself against the life of the repub- 
lic; when it defied the governqaent and strove 
in a rebellion fierce and wrong to rend the 
land in twain, the cause of liberty and con- 
stitutional authority henceforth were one. 
rhey had been from the first the two (win 
principles of our national existence, and they 
were now joined together in the same grest 
struggle and together they must stand or fall 
on its decision. In demanding obedience fo 
the Constitution, we were effecting liberty ftr 
all the people. In upholding the Governmt nt, 
we established freedom to be the univeieal 
law, as it had always been the living spirit of 
the republic. And if these principles shall be 
preserved together, and remain as the perpi t- 
ual heritage of our government and peop'e, 
those whose devotion and setf-saorifioe w* 



6 



here commemorate will have done iha( which 
w*8 worth living — wis wnll wonh djini; fur 
Their work was lo establish our (xistence as 
a nation, free and yet governing ourselves hy 
settled and well orde ed law; their pacrifi.-e 
was to ceuient the glorious temple of humur 
liberty and justice with a power that will 
make it meet to be the gathe ing place of the 
oppressed and suffering of every country 
Already had its arches spanned a cominent : 
already were its walU upppringing as the won 
der of the world; but ere the missive super- 
structure could be carried on lo its higli pin 
naole, its foundations must be tested and its 
deep corner stones re tried, whether they 
would be able to sustain the finished edifice. 

If we fail here, our failure will go far to 
make the world believe that a republic ia 
among the dreams of human fancy which 
never can be realized in acual historic fact ; 
but if we show the problem fairly met and 
answered, all nations, soon or late, will follow 
in our footprints. 

Such we believe to be the real issue, such the 
vast significance of our contest to ourselves 
and to the world. And we cain give to those 
whose names are graven on this monument no 
higher honor than to appreciate the spirit and 
maintain the principles of the great etrugile | 
in which they battled and for which they i 
died. The cause for which they fought has | 
triumphed in the bloody ordeal; the war in 
which they fell is done, and we have yet a | 
common country, one undivided land, one 
Government yet binding all together, one 
Constitution yet the supreme law over all : 
and though the battle-smoke has scarcely yet 
upraised its lurid veil from Ihs dark fields of 
our conflict, and the blood scarcely yet grown 
dry upon the turf upon which it fell, already 
peace is beginning to dispense its wonted hies 
sing.s; and, if we are true to ourselves and to 
the fundamental principles of our govern 
mcnt. we shall .'^oon be mightier than ever in 
all the elements that are essential to a nation's 
greatness and a people's good 

And now chat the deadly strife of war i.« 
over, we have the yet more glirious vi(•,tor^e^ 
of peaje to win; the victory of taming down 
the anery passions of our own heated spiril^; 
of illustrating in our own defereiioe to law 
the nature of the obedience that we demand 
from all; of ensuring that there shall be 
henceforth a true union of the nation, by fos 
tering in ourselves the. kindly t-pirit and fir- 
giving temper of the brethren of one common 
family; by striving to real ze in our acts the 
lof y manhood and sublime Htatesmanship of 
our Saviour's teachings; and then, but not till 
then, can we perft-ct the work we have begun 
for then we shall not only have a Union of 
external bonds and governmental furms, but 
one cemented by the power and pervaded by 
the spirit of that true Christian brotherhood 



whose might will overcome and bless where 
legislatioc will only palliate and politicians ' 
only mangle. ' e 

Soldiers of the Army of (he Union! who" 
stand here in the presence of the dead who 
died in the same great cause for which you 
I'oughi! You live to practice the same pre-" 
oious principles for which they perished: you'** 
live to culiivaie the ripeneJ truit which they'' 
fought by your side to save from the destroy-'' 
era. Through tods, through dingers, you 
bore on to finiil triumph the flig that loosened 
from their dying grasp, and on you rests the 
same high meed of honor we havb been ren- 
dering to your fallen comrades here God 
bli-ss you fur the work you strove so nobly in, 
and mike you feel that now in peace you have 
to carry on the same good cau.'e in which so? 
bravely you faced death in battle; that of up- ' 
holding in your place as citizens, the truths 
which are essential to the continuance of our 
nation's being; that the TTuion is the nation's 
life, thft Constitution tie nation's supreme 
law, Lib 'rty the nmion's vital spirit. With- 
out Liberty we have only a despotism under 
the forms of a republic; without the Union 
the nation cannot be ; without loyalty to the 
Constitution the republic cannot last. 

A little while and W2 shall have gone hence 
to our homes, but we shall bear away wi;h us 
the vision of this monumental column, sacred 
to our patriot dead, and if the solen.niiies of 
to day have been any more than idle and un- 
meaning cei*emonial, it will be forever conse- 
crated in our minds as a memorial, not only 
of the true men we have given lo the nation, 
but of the high, inestimable value of the 
principles fir which they died. Long may this 
shaft upreir the sleepless watcher on iisfum- 
niil to tell with silent eloqnencf thestory o^ the 
nation'.s strugsjle and to le ch the le-son of the 
nail n's triumph. May after generations bring 
'heir children and th-ir children's children 
here to li-ten by its .♦ide the trials of their 
fathers in the stern contest for the defence of 
liberty and law. And when we all have passed 
■I way and been forsroiten, may there still gather 
here 'hose who will yet maintain itH bravely 
and hold as fervently the principles by which 
ilone the life of the republic can be perpetua- 
ted, as they whose names and memory are 
h'^nored on its speaking tablets But should 
the time ever come when our people shall be 
so untrue to th^ir own hiphpst good and to 
the cause of riaht. as to destroy (he fab'ic 
which their fathers reared, and crtimble the 
naion into anarchy or harden it into a des- 
potiem. whether of the many or of one. thtn 
whall ihe Flivem of the new tyranny smite the 
chaste beauty of this memorial column into 
fragments, because they c^uH not bear its 
calm but s'ern reproach, that they were no 
longer worthy or able to preserve the glorious 
heritage these brave men died to save. 



sad-i 



ADDRESS OF JAMES WILSON, ESQ. 



The war which treason forcd upon us ip 
ovpf, the grpat ^eb^lli()n has b°pn subiiued : 
the power df our Gnvernment. is (iujrfmp ; 
,and oVff every part of our territ'r?. theflny 
of our Uriinn, jg the ackoowltdged symbol 
of 'he nation's authority. 

Our soldiers who have returned to up. 
have been every where received by a r- j >ii' 
ing people, with thanks hD'I honors, so jusr 
Jy their nue. Rut as wh lodked upon tbf 
■ returning ranks of those bror z«d and war- 
Wiirn veterans, we souglit in vain, fur th' 
familiar faces and m tnly forms, of many 
who went f,.rth wi h thnm to the contehi, 
but who did not return again. We hfid n 
need to a^-k of them, "Brave soldiers of free- 
dom, where are y 'ur comrades?" for W' 
knew ton well, that thev had (al'en in th' 
path of honor, and that thr-y hnd tealer! 
th(-ir devotion to their counir\ , with th ir 
blood. Our h<arts are often fi led with snr 
r^w, and our tears iail fast and frt e. wheri 
we think that th<y are gone, and that tbeii 
places among us are vacant forever; but to 
day. when we meet to stieak of their greai 
services, and their nolle lives, other feeling- 
will hiive the control. We think of thfm 
as men whosf love >if liberty was supreme ; 
who promptly an^^wtred their ccuntry's ctII 
in the hour of darUness and n^ril ; who for 
her sake faced danger and d^'aih in every 
form, and wfio guve their lives, a willing 
S'liinfioe, that this Uoton might, live. Wt- 
knnw tfiat their nanie-i are rnciirded on thas 
T'>\ of hon.ir i<nd ol lame, which their conn- 
try SHcredly keeps, lor h^r herons and de 
fenders. And to-dny we yield ourselves up 
to the sweet consoUiion.x. ih" exnltati m and 
the pride, which these thoui/hts insnire. 

It is to ihim, and to their surviving com- 
radeH, that we owe it, that our Uoinn and 
our liberties are preserved ; and that we are 
not now, a collection of feeiile s'ates, in fh<- 
onidst of an trchy, discnrd and confifi o. 
We meet hi re to d' dicate to ihpm a filing 
memorial, which shall honor their memories, 
and k^ep them green and fret^h forever. 

It has been the pr^tctice, among all peo 
pie, in all ages of the world, to erect mono 
ments in /n>miiry of great events, and in 
honor of men, who ly their sacri.'ices and 
eervicus. or their great and useful lives. 
have nfnrred signal blessings up- n man 
]iind. And whedier it be a rude and simple 
etuoe, the ettitue, sculptured with ekill and 



beauty, the graceful shaft, the gorgeous 
m luscleum, or the tjrand and massive p'^ra- 
inid, all alike, remind us of the p.ist and of 
the banefictirs of our race, and imprets 
upon our heMrts the m st useful lessons. 

Wfio ever looked uiion a st-ttue of Whsh- 
'ngton, without feeling his heart warmed 
.new, with gratitude ami adiniraii.iti for his 
dure and lof'y virim s. nnd his great serti- 
Cfrt to his country, and to munkmd? Who 
''ver t>t od fiy ttie granite hhaft unon Buoktr 
Htll, witttout almost hearing, the vonses of 
Putnam and Preset. tt and Warren, as they 
(jtieertd on their men — or without almost 
-eeing paws tiefore him, the scenes of th; t 
•leroic struggle, which baptizd that ground 
wiih the b.ood of patriots, and made its soil 
lorev^^ SHcred — or wirh'nt having a n?w 
•^ense of the great s lerifijes by which our 
liberty was won; and feeling his snul strung, 
with h' firm resolve, to defend that liberty 
with his life, if his c untiy stiould ever de- 
inind It? Such monuments are constant 
md impressive, though silent teachers; they 
educate to a love of country, and to great 
and noble deeds; and if the I'ssons which 
they teach, sir k deep into the hearts jf our 
peoile, we shall ever be, a nation, free, 
great and invincible. 

Ojr Fathffs loved liberty — They know 
w. 11 its value, an I what it coit to gnin it. 
Side by side, they pasi«ed through the sacri- 
fices and sufiF-ring'j, the toil and blood of the 
r vnlu ii.n — thiy staked their all, fir their 
c uniry and for Ire'd' m; and they tr:umph- 
ed. Before their brave hearts, ,^nd their 
sturdy a'-ms. the fl ,g of the despot went 
d wn; and kingly power was swept from 
ihe-e shores. 

They knew and felt, that in th^t great 
contest, their strength Wis not merely in the 
jiis'ice of ih'ir ciuse, but in their Union 
and that without it, they would huve been 
)oi quered, arid would have remained serfs 
of Ureat Britain; and that their legacy to 
their childrpn, wouM have been a legacy of 
-bondage, and not > f freedom. 

When the storm of war had passed away, 
they met together ; and with all that wisdum 
and forethought, for which they will ever be 
r nown' d. they framed our g vernment, and 
formed this Unim ; und'^r which they fond- 
ly hoied, that they, and their children, and 
their childrehf*' children, would e' joy tl e 
blcsaioga uf liberty through all future time. 



8 



W« revere our gnvprnment — wo love our 
Union — as the work of their hands. 

They conoidered the union of these utates. 
not as merely h thing to be prtferred, but as 
abeolutelj essential, to our penc* and pros- 
perity at home; to our dignity and power 
abroad ; and to our very exiefnce, as a n« 
tion. among the nations of thu earth. Look 
to the record of their opinions and their 
deeds; listen to their teachingf", their coui - 
sel and their warninga, as they are written 
on the pages of our history. Washington, 
after having led our armies through the sev- 
en years war of the revolution : and alter 
having, ns our Chief Mugistrate, guid^d 
the destinies of our young reputilio lor eight 
years more ; bade adieu to put)lic life, and 
gave to the people bis lareweii address. 

lie there hhjh, "the unity i f \o\ir givern 
ment, which cunsfitute* you one peopip, ii- 
dear to you. It is justly 8< ; lor it is a roa n 
pillar in the edifi ;e of your renl indepen 
denoe; the support of your trarquiliity at 
home; your peace abroad ; of your flnfety ; 
of yoiir prosperity ; of that vpry liberty 
which you to highly prize. It is of infinite 
moment, that you should properly estiroa'e 
the immense value of tour national uniidi to 
yur C' llectivft and iodividunl hapj-iness ; 
that you should cheri(<h a cordial. habitu>»l 
and immoveable attachmert to it ; accustom 
ing yoiiri»el»e8 to think and spetik of it, iis 
the pall idium of your political safety and 
profperity ; watctung for its prpservati n 
With j -alous anxiety; discountenancing 
whiitever may suggest, even a suspicion, 
that it can, in any event, be abandoned ; 
and indignantly frowning upon the fird 
dawning ol every attempt to alienate any 
portion of uur country from the rest, or to 
rnfeeb e the sacred ties, which now link to- 
gether the various parts." 

Could more valued counnel. more earnest 
exurtaiion, or nrire solemn and impressive 
wartiiiigs, be spoken by human wisdom, by 
ex ilted patriotism, or th ? yearning love ol 
a lather tor his children? 

Wtiat VVrtshingtoo so wtll said of the val- 
ue and iinportance of our Union, was more 
than verifi-d by the fxperience of the years 
which followed. Our young republic grew 
rapioly in strength, and grentnesH and pow 
er; and our people enjoyed unexampled pros 
perity and happinefS. They knew our gov- 
ernment chiefly by its blessings ;for its bur- 
dens and restraints were 80 light and gentle, 
that they were hardly felt. And for many 
long years, our whole people loved the Uni- 
on. They never looked uroo our flig 
— ihe beautiful banner of the stripes and 
Btars — but with affection and pride. They 
regarded it aa the symbol of our natioDality ; 



as identified with all our glory in the past ; 
with all that we value in the present ; and 
with all thflt we ci uld hope for in the lu- 
ture, of national greatness and power. They 
remembered that our faihers carried that 
flag, in the days of Sevemy-eix ; they re- 
numbered that under itt waiving folds, in 
the war of 1812, Hull and Bainbridge and 
Decatur, and their brave compters, humbled 
fie pride of Great Britain, wh > boaitifl I that 
r>he was the mirtress of the sea ; and that it 
fl«<w at. the mast-bead when Perry and Mo- 
Donough swept her Bquadrons from the 
lakes ; they remembered that it was the fl tg, 
to which the gallant Lawrence turned his 
dying eyes, when he said to h\A surviving 
coiiirade4. "Don.t give up the ship": and 
that if led the way when the hi roic J-tck^ n 
and his riflemen, conquered at New Orleans, 
and closed that war in triumnh, amidst the 
nbouting* and exultations of a r>j licing na- 
tion. 

What led any of our people to forswear 
their nllegiance to that gl .rious banner? 

What Could lead any of our country's 
sons, whom, like a loving mother, she had 
tenderly nurhcd upon her bosom, to raise 
their hands against h< r liff ? Tfipy felt do 
onpression. and hufi" -red no wrong. Al x- 
anaer Stephens addressing a convention in 
Georgia, when the question of seceding, was 
under Consideration, said "WhHt>i nt has 
the North assailed — what interent of «he 
S.)Uth hax been invaded — what ju!»tico has 
been denied — and what claim toonded on 
justice and right has been withheld ? I 
rhallengo the anawer. Now f.»r you to at- 
tempt to overthrow su.-h a government, un- 
'ter which we have liv d fir throe quarters 
of a centurv. in which we have gaitied our 
w^alth and our stHnding as a nation, i* the 
height fif madness, folly and wickedness, to 
which I can lend neither my sanction or my 
vote." Such Aierr his warm and earnest 
words; .and they 1 'se none of their force or 
truih, irom the fact, that he was himself 
soon nf-er. carried from bin feet and dHshed 
into a melancholy wr>«!k, by the whirlpool 
of irtmson and maduess, wbinb boiled and 
surged around him 

Slavery and the corrupting and degrading 
passions which it engenders and fosters, 
was the root from which this great rebellion 
sprung. Under itt malign influence, there 
grew up in the slave States, a class of men, 
who hated a republican gtivernment, who 
bated an equ ility among its citiz«nH And who 
wished to build up a government with slave 
ry as its corner-ntone ; in which they should 
be a preferred and f.ivored clasa, aid should 
hoi 1 all the po«-er. And to do this, they 
(ijught to destroy our goveroment, to tear 



asuoder this Union, and to whelm this na- 
tion in blood. And we now know from 
their own lipn, that for thirty years, thev 
bad planned and plotted for this purpose, 
though they carefully concealed their 
echetnes, from all but a ehusen tew. Aod 
when their plans were ripe, and they fell 
sure of success, thev sought a pretext for a 
quarrel in order to commeoce the war, upon 
which they were resolved. 

The leading traitors, and ihose wlio were insym 
pair with them, hid long filled minyofihe m'i»i 
important iiffi es 10 the Guvprnment, and had con- 
trolle<l and directed iis affiirs. The powers en- 
trusted lo ih(-m. lor (he naiion's Rnfety antJ defence, 
they abused and turned ngaini-t her, to accomplish 
her uiler destruction. The arms ileposiied in the 
nitiunal armories in ihe loyal Slates, were rem ived 
to places wiihin rebel contrni Our treasury wms 
rohhfd and remained empty. and our naiiunni credit 
was degraded; our niV)* was scaiiered lo disiani 
paitsut the vorld; and ihe ch'el part ot our armv 
Was p aced in Texas, und.-r Twiggs, who, in pin- 
suance uf previous arrangement wiih them, betray- 
ed it into the hand - ol the rebvls 

>V ith t'le nation thus disarmed, with no army arid 
no navy — without, money anO wiih'iui rredn — wiiii 
traitors, iipeo o; disguised in every de,)arime«t of 
the guveriimeni — our country wa*" truly in exiremest 
peril, and the disisu.niion o our Union seemed hI- 
most HCDomplished No wonder that the iratirs 
exulied over their siipposird success; no wonder 
that tyrants and despois across the occa i echoed 
bai'k their exuliations. and waiched and wttiled lor 
our desiructioif, for the knell ol American liberiy 
would be the sweeiesi music that coulJ greet their 
ears 

This was our sitnaiion when Mr. L'ncnln came 
into iiffice. Lincoln, ihen almosi unknown and 
wholly nniried. but now known and belovtd and 
revered by all this people, and by Ihe friends ol 
libt-rty fhrmighoui the wiirld Me saw and lett all 
the ' ifficullie.s before hini, but his great spirit was 
not d»UMted nor wa^t he moved (rum his purpose, lo 
keep iaiihfiiilv the sacred trust c-cimmitied to his 
charge, lie baid, in hi-* inaugural adiire s, " there 
need be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall 
be none, unless it is forced upon the naiional au- 
thority," and, addressiiig himself to ihem. tvhom in 
thp gentleness of his hcirl h- called by no harsher 
name than "my dissatisfied country. neit." he said. 
'•you can have no coiifl^ct without being yourselves 
the aggressor-t. You can iiave no oath registered in 
Heaven lo destroy this Union, while I shall have 
the most solemi-ione to preserve, protect and defend 
it." 

Our people tried every mode which human wis- 
dom could suggest, to slay the traitors in thfir 
course, and turn them from their purpose. They 
appealed to their reason and their pairiotifm, to the 
memories of the past and the hopes of the future, 
but in vain. One ol their number revealed the 
spirit which swayed them, when, in answer lo our 
appeals he said, "If you would give us a sheet of 
blank paper, and a>-k us to write upon it out own 
terras of reconciliation, we wou d spurn it from us." 
Our best eflurts were fruii less, ai.d the nation waited 
in anxiety what the future would U sclone. Soon 
the tiaitiirs. in iheir madness, fired upon Fort Sum- 
mer, and the thunder of their cannon proclaimed 
that all hope nf peace was at an end. Then Mr. 
Lincoln, remembering his oath recoided in Heaven, 



and looking to the Great Ruler of Nations for his 
guidance and protection, issued his proclamaiions 
arid summoned the people to arms Thai summi'ns 
rang through ihe land and thrilled the hearts ol the 
people like a bogle call, and everywhere received 
a prompt and cheerlul response, and men hastened 
to gather around their country's standard, and'to ar- 
ray themselves for her defence. Thek came from 
evrry place, and from every calling and condition 
in life. !• rom the field and farm— fom the lorest 
and the mine — :rom Ihe workshop atio' the factory 
— Irom the commercial mart — from schools and col- 
leges — Irom all prolessions and pursuiis they came 
— the young and the old alike. 

They came not a? slaves, at the command of des- 
pots; not as men who loved war or who delighted 
in scenes of caroHge and blood. They we'e not 
prompted by a desire to gain an empty lame, nor by 
a liiHt of Conquest They did not c ime. hot with 
pission or burning with revenge ai d haie. They 
came as freemen, as volun.eersin their country*! 
ciuse; loving peace, yet knowing ih'it even peace 
<an b^ hoiighi lou dearlv ; haling war. yet knowing 
I hat war is not the gre.Aiest of calamries. They 
came, prompted by nn exalted devoiion to iheir 
country and a supreme love fir ihe Unmn ; and 
over and beyond all this, there w.is, deep down in 
ihe r hearts, a firm and abiding bf'lief that our cause 
WIS the c luse of justice and iruih, Ihe cause of hu- 
man Ireeilorri. and of liheriy ihrottihout the world ; 
^nd that the blei-sing ol G d was upon ii and would 
a tend them in all they di i in Us defence And as 
they mir>hilled ihemielves henea hour R<\g, the 
voice which s >oke in iheir heart* was, " For God 
and our Couulry w- draw tke sword " 

This nprisiiigorsuch meri,throu);hout all this broad 
land, moved by such ;"ure ami loliy purposes, was 
a spect.icle of moral gr ndeur and sublimity that 
has no pirallel in th^e history of miiiotis. Having 
liivpii iheuiselves lo this aerv^fe. they have every- 
where and al all times been faiihtiil and devoted to 
their great diiiies. Though so recently coming 
Irom Ihe ireedom and quiei of civil life, they have 
been patient and obedient, under Ihe strictness of 
military discipline, and at all times prompt and rea- 
dy to answer all its demai'ds They hive made 
long and weary marches -they have endured hun- 
ger and Ihirsi — the burning heals of summer — and 
win'er's fierce an I pie cing blasts — and through Ihe 
long, tedious hours ol night, ihey have siood sleep- 
less, and guarded the dangerous outposts, and 
watched for the safety of their cumrades. slumber- 
ing in the distant camp. In the storm and rn.sh and 
.strife, of many fit'ice and bloody battles— before the 
dttillery's sle'n and grim array — or facing Inng lines 
of glittering bayonets, or deadly rifles — or midst the 
trampling hools and fla.shiig sabres of the cavalry 
— ihey have been calm and brave^- they have fought 
with ihe utmost courage and resolution; they nave 
followed ourflig wherever it led, and have freely 
()Oured out their blood in its delence. Their love 
of country and their devoiion lo ine Uniiin have at 
all limes been conspicuo.is; shining, not in fitful 
gleams, but with a steady, brilliani and coiisiaht 
light. 'I hese feelings were not born nf the emhii- 
siasra of ihf" hour; ihey have stood thf> test of dan- 
ger and siifTtfring, and all the stern realitjes nf war. 

It would be deeply interesting lo recount at length 
'he particulars of their distinguished services and 
great sacrifices but to do this would be to repeat 
almost the whole history of the vear. To shoW 
somethina of the spirit which animated their souls, 
in their devotion to iheir couniry, let me mention a 
few of iheir words and deeds, gathered from their 
letters, not intended lor the pubhc eye, but writreh 



10 



to iheir frimdo ai hi>me. wiih all the Bimplicily and 
opcnnrM of 8fiec(ii>n and iruih 

One soldier, writing Ifom -lour inilf s nonh of At- 
lanta. ' •ays. "11 ray time were out, I would reen- 
liit. for I leel the duty o( sprving my bleedihg 
country more than I ever did-'' 

Anoiher wa» mortally wounded, and died upon 
the field o( battle. His comrade, who whs with 
him at the lime, wrote home, that among his last 
words were, 'Thank God ! that I am permitted lo 
die lor my country; ibank Him yet more that I am 
prepared lo go " 

Anoiher. in one of his letters, speaks of his lent 
mate, ol the name ol Waller S Colhy, and says : 
" He had a kind of slow ciinsiimpiion on him. and 
usually coughed all night. The furgeon iff-red 
him hiadisitharge, bill he answered ihat he would 
join his r ginieni and go on with it, or die. I never 
saw a man wiih a stronger will, aiid that was all 
that k pt him up; he never dropped oiii on a march, 
while many a urong man failed to come t" camp 
with ihe regiment Ai Gaines' Mill, while fighln'g 
bravely, poor (Jolb, was thui in the leg, whiih was 
very much Khattered As soon as he fell he gol up 
on the sound leg, Hiipporting himself as well as he 
could upon the shntiered slump took ifThis cap. 
and waving ii in the air, gave three chetrs fcr the 
Union. a\ iho top of his voice, lie iht-n bc-came 
weak, and (ell again. One of ihe hoys went lo 
him and a:rked him if he c uld do anything lor him 
He ihanked him. and said he could nut live a great 
while anyhow, and he might ns well die ns he was, 
and thai he had better not mind him. but lonk oui 
for himself; so he look a drink of water and'we 
never alterv\Brd heard from him." 

Anoiher. who was in Ihe holiest of the fierce 
struggles of the three bloody days at Gcliysburg. 
writes. 'Only ubml forty o( our regiment got off: 
and in my cnmpanv. only Ihe captain, one sergpani 
and mytelt got oil: tnd we all got bullet holes 
through our clothes. After giving some further par- 
ticulars, he snys, -'This is ihe great o> jpcl of my 
life— 10 aid in crushing this monstrous rebellion I 
believe ihai il maiurs liule wAen a man dies; but 
how and where, that is all important; and in no way 
can a man die so glorinusly, as when he dies lor his 
country and his race. One who has livid lo serve 
his country i^o years in ihis war. has done more 
ihan he who has spent a whole lileltme in stlf ag- 
grandizcnient. 

All offiier received a letter fr"m his wile, in 
which she spoke ol certain (.fTicerB killed in battle 
and of whom some one hail said (lu justly) that they 
were rash, and ha.-l exposed themselves unnecesHa- 
rily. She begged her hufband. while he did his 
duty, not to he rai-h. He ariswered, that being an 
officer his presence with his men was necei-sary 
and that in times of danger he wou'd lead his 
troops and not •■lay in the rear and order them for 
ward; thai he would rrol he niKh, but would do hie 
duly; and added, "If 1 nm shotd .wn let no one wear 
mourning lor me— r<j//ier long out the Starg and 
Stripes and be proud lam not rash neither am J 
so brave as thousand' of others — I mean, natiirnlly 
and consli utionally brave. What coiirnge I have 
comes by l^rce of reason. and of sell discipline and 
deiermiriaiion. I pra Heaven that wben I see ihe 
need of sacrificing mypelf. no weakness of iierve 
shall di ter me." This officer still survives and 
bears m^ny honorable wound.'', and it is Ihe testi 
muny of all who knew him, thai the duty of lead- 
ing his men in tim^s of danger as above laid down 
by him. he fulfilled lo the very letter. 

In the presence ol such examples of heroism and 
devotiua to couairy as these, (and there are thou- 



sands more like ihem ) I feel the uner poverty of 
any laneiioge 1 could possibly use, filly to describe 
the character of our soldiers, or award to there the 
praise which is their due The simple records of 
their words and detds is their highi at eulogy 

Death is always solemn; it is somoiimes awful. 
But when men leel that they arc in ihe paih which 
God has apiHtinied them, they need not tear death. 
And the soldier fighting for the freedom of his coun- 
try, will often smile at his approach, aud welcome 
his con;ing. 

"Come to the bridal chamber. Death ! 

Come to the moihfr, when she leels. 
For the first time, her first bom's breath; 

Come, when the blessed seals 
Thai close ihe pestilence, are broke, 
And crowded ciiies wail iia stroke; 
Come in consumption's ghasily form. 
The earthquake shock, the ocean storm; 

Anil ihou art terrible — 
But lo ihe hero when his sword, 

IJas won the battle for the tree. 
Thy voice sounds like a prophets word; 
And in lis hollow tones, are heard 

1 he ihaniis of millions yel to be." 

It was not only in the field, or the camp, or Ihe 
exciiemenis of niiliiary array, that the virtues of 
our soldiers were manift-sled. But in the hospital ; 
on beds of pain ani sickneRi^; in ihe midsi of suffer- 
ing fiom torturing wounds, or wailing disease ; all 
who saw tr.em bear witne.-<s that ilie same feelings 
illed their hearts. No murmurs were heard from 
them; no regreis thai they had left their h>>mes for 
their country's service ; lo douMsor misgivings as 
lb the right or justice of our cause Though 
their pulse was low and feeble, and their cheeka 
\»'ere wan and pale, yei if ibe^e brave men could 
speak at nil, it was siill of iheir country, and of 
their love foi ihe dear old fl ig. 

And when ihey were prisoners, shut up in those 
horrid prism pens of ihe Soiiih, where they were 
wa'ched and lorliired b^ fienrls in human shape; 
where hunger and thirst and heal, and cold.nnd na- 
kedne>-s, aid disease in a 1 Us shapes w.isied away 
their forms, and weighed dov\n their mao'y beans; 
when the rebels tried lo tempt ihem lo j..in their 
rankd. promising Ihem g uid fiiod and clothing, and 
pay and promotion, Ihey spurned their tempters, and 
were willing still 10 bear their siifTeringK fur their 
couinry's (.ake. And ihousands did bear ilirni. iin 
111 death relieved them; and other ihousarHls still, 
until the hour came lor iheirexchange ; when ihey 
reiurned to us. gaunt skeletons, clothed in filihy 
raga covered ,wiili vermin, and slowly wasting 
away with cuuFuming disease 

No Chrif-tian martyr amid the fires which ron- 
Riimed his quivering flech at the rtnke ever bore 
loiiier lesiimuiiy lo his love for his holy lailh. ihan 
dill these martyrs of liberty, lo their devutiuH to 
their country and lo freedom 

There were some crimes in this accursed rebel- 
lion which a great and merciful people may forgive 
orperniit lo go unpunished. But they who n Aided 
upon our tiemic men. those daily, deliberate, con- 
riant lortiires, are beyor.d the pale of mercy. Stern 
justice should pursue ihem. with aveneing hand, 
until the utmost rigors ol her righteous demands are 
satisfied. 

It was often said by those who seemed to delight 
in prophecying evil, that if Ihe rebellion should be 
crushed, then our soldiers, accustomed lo arms, 
would be so in love with military power that Ihey 
would turn their swords against the government and 
make themselves its roasters. But they who said 



11 



o did not know our soldiers, and could not compre- 
hend ihe greatnfss ot their souls li was to deterid 
their country that they took up arms, ard wlien 
that duty was performed, they gladly laid them 
aside, and fulled their beloved standards, stained 
and torn m so many battles, and joylully returned 
to their homes. They were actuated by the same 
spirit ns Washington was, when, at the close of the 
war of the Revolution, he resigned into the hands 
of the Continental Congress, his commission as 
commander-in-chief of our armies, and retired from 
public service. And that act has ever been consid- 
erfdasone if the crowning glories of his life 

The readiness, the ease, and ihe completeness 
with which th>> dissolution of our armies was eT- 
fectnd. was the astor ishment of other nations. And 
truly Ihe dispersion oi our soldiers was a scene no 
less grand than their first coming together, in an- 
swer to their country's call to arms It was at their 
country's command that they drew sword ; at her 
command they sheathed it again; and they returned 
it to its scabbard with no slain of dishonor upon it 

All that has been or can be said of the patriotism, 
courage and serviceo of our soldiers, applies wiih 
equal force to our sailors upon the sea. They have 
nobly performed their pans, and the highest honors 
are their due. They have braved every danger 
and peril upon the ocean, and our rivers and inland 
S08S. They have watched vigilantly upon our ex- 
tended coast, to foil our foreign foes, who with well 
loaded vessels Eouehi to run the blockade, to bring 
to the rebels arms and supplies. They have added 
new lustre to the ancient glories of onr flag, and are 
worthy to be enrolled with our naval heroes of for- 
mer days, whom this nation always remembers with 
gratitude and pride. 

1 cannot now speak particularly of their different 
battles, but to one which had an especial interest 1 
will allude. It was in the wateis which separate 
England and France, that our noble ship the Kfar- 
sarge, met the rebel pirate, AlabRma, a vessel built 
in a British porlj by British workmen, armed with 
British guns, woiked by British seamen, and just 
then coming fresh and warm from the feastingsand 
the favors heaped upon her in the ports of France. 
In a short, sharp fight, the gallant VVinslow and his 
Union ciew sent her to the bottom. The pride of 
England could not have been more stung nor her 
spirit more humbled, il she had openly avowed that 
vepsel ns her own, and ber own banner had waved 
above her deck, and had with it gone down in disas- 
ter and defeat. It was a peculiar pleasure to think 
that our brave tars had gained that vicinry, within 
sight of our French andBritish foes; and theirsneers 
at our sHpposfd weakness, their rejoicings at our 
troubles, and iheir almost dsilv prophecies ot our 
coming national destruction, received a fiiting an- 
swer, when the thunder of our victorious cann -n 
waked the echoes upon their thores; and the state- 
ly Kearsarge swept proudly on her way, bearing at 
her masthead and flaunting in iheir very faces the 
glorious and triumphant stars and stripes. 

On every occasion, when we speak of the great 
trials through which our country has p-issed, and of 
l^o8e to whom we are indebted fir our safety and 
preservation, the parrioiism. sacrifices and servi'-e« 
of our American women should receive mo»t hon- 
orable mention and emphatic recognition. The 
great i»suea at stake in this contest, the value of 
our Union, and the liberty of which it is the safe- 
guard arid the stay, were understood by none belter 
than by them. And when the call to arms summon- 
ed to the field Iheir fathers and brothers their bus 
bands and their sons, they freely gave them up to 
their country's servica, and helped to gird them for 



battle. They did this with willing hearts, though 
they knew well that the adieu which they then 
pressed upon their lips, might be the last and final 
farewell, aiid that upon their beloved faces ihey 
might never look again. If their feelings h'-d found 
expression in words, we would have heard Ihera 
say, as the ranks were forming, 

"Onward ! see otir country, 

Once a peaceful home. 
Where the world's oppressed ones, 

Might lor freedom come — 
Now all torn and bleeding. 

See, she fnintii g lies, 
Forward to the rescue. 

Ere our Union dies! 
Rally around her stand ird. 

Hasten on to save; 
Bo your watchword ever. 

'Freedom or the grave!' " 

And when our men mnrched forward and were 
farnway, iheir love followed them, and was ever 
present with ihem, in camp and field and gnrtison, 
and in the vessel upon the stormy deep. Our sol- 
diers and our sailors knew thi^. and it filled their 
souls with Courage, cheerlulnetB and hope. In the 
hospital, among Ihe sick and suffering, our noble 
women were ever present, performing the' most ar- 
duous labors, exposing their own lives to contagion 
and disease, and watching many weary days and 
sleepless nights, that the sick and wounded soldier 
might lack lor nothing, and might again be restored 
to his country and his friends. And all over ihis 
land, in every city, town snd hamlet, their loving 
hearts and busy fingers were constantly engnged in 
preparing clothing and food, and delicacies, and ev- 
erything which they imagined a soldier could 
need, in sickness or in health, and sending them for- 
ward in steady and bountiful streams They have 
truly been ministering angels to them, and the re- 
membrance of their goodness will be cherished for- 
eve'- 

One of our soldiers, writing to hi* friends, said: 
"Many a 'God bless the women,' is heard from our 
soldier boys, in hospit' I, camp and battle fields." 

Another writes "Is it poFsible for us to fail ? No; 
not while tuch love and devotion as are shown by 
the women of this nation, makes itself so thorough- 
ly fielt among us; nerving us for the strife, and 
pointing us to the God of Justice and of Battles, as 
our Great Commander." 

Still annther says: -'The women of the North are 
doing a glorious work for the sick and wounded sol- 
diers. God bless them! When ihe women are so 
zenlons In their h yalty. the republic is safe. Hope- 
less would he the cause they would not sanction." 

In America, woman has always been cherished as 
the pride, the grace, and the charm of domeplic life; 
and the love and admiration wiih which we ever 
turn lo her. are heightened by the remembrance of 
her pntrioiism arid services in this war. Who tan 
say what would have been Ihe isfu of the contest, 
if her ii fluence had not so thoroughly insiired atid 
strengthened our armies, in the great strugg e fiir 
national safety and honor? When. then. Ihe roll 
shall be opened for those who are eminently enti- 
tled 10 the honor and gratitude of the nation, record 
there, in a distinguished place, the names of our 
American women. 

When we think of the great cost at which our 
liherty was first gained, and our Union established; 
when we think of the enormous expenditure of 
blood and treasure, by which they have been pre- 
served; when we think of the untold miseries which 
would have ioUo wed their destruction; we then 



12 



b8v« •' me ronrepi!on o( t\<e deep nnd Hrieelable 
■wi<keHn«>»8 eip/esffd by ihe word •' Treason." 
And, however «iine in hieh plares. or eluewhern 
may teek lo soften lit hideouR feBiureB, ihe total 
people know ihal it is Ihe bla( kffit ol all cr'imeo; 
thai It does, indeed, include within itfielfihe wit k- 
ednesg of all oihei rrimes, in the long raialogiie of 
human baseneBS and ddpravilv. and ihey leel Ir. 
their hearts that as such it shculd be punished. 'J'he 
people ki.owan«t Jeel ihai between /7«m ai>d Iraiiors, 
arm all who Bympaihize wiih trailers, there isa \ awn- 
ing ^ult of separaiion, vshirh is. and forever must 
be, niterlv irop<)s«flble, except by sincere penitence 
and thorough reformation 

The rebellion has been subdued. But let us be 
ware! Ireafon is not yet dead. It still lives, in 
thousands of hearis, in ihe lull vigor of its original 
venom and hate. What it sought to do. by force of 
arms, in the open field it will siiil seek to do, in an- 
other way. It will seek In destroy our Union, un- 
der ihe forms and by means of the ngencies of 
our civil government. Watch, therefore, oh ye 
sentinels of freedom! Keep well the citadel of 
liher'y! fur the foe is lurking in secret places, and 
the danger la not yet over. 

Our brave men. who have survived the toils and 
dangers of this war, are here among us, and are all 
over ihis broad land. We meet ihem every day and 
their honorable scars, Iheir crippled step, the crutch, 
the empty sleeve, constantly testify of iheir services 
and their vnlor. Towards them our hearts should 
ever be full of graliiude. respect and honor. There 
is no name or tiile so proud as thai of " Soldier of 
the Union." — no garment was evei worn, so honora- 
ble or 80 beautiful, as •' the Union Blue." 

Thry who hsve fallen have left behind them 
their kindred, their wives and their litlle ones. It 



is onr mrt«f aacred duly to proleci and ch*ri«h them, 
and lo make their lives peaceful and happy. But 
when we ^hall have done all that we can do; when 
our treasures and our (<frvlce» have been poured 
out. without stint, for this purpose, we shall have 
paid bui a very small part of thaidebi ol gratitude, 
which IS due to our fallen deiendera, whose blood 
has moisierifd fo many fields 

The brave dead, lo whom we now dedicate this 
monument, rest not here. Their remains have, in 
Slime cases bren gathered by lovii g hands, and laid 
by ihe side ol iheir kindred, amid their household 
graves. Others have been laid in those places 
which the naiion has prepared, and where, with 
a mother's love, she watches over her sleeping 
f hildrcn. Of others, fallen in the path of honor we 
know not as yet Ihe places of their repose. But 
wheresoever there is a soldier's grave, that spot is 
dear to our hiarls; it is sncred lo every lover of 
liberty. Green be thil spot forever! There may 
the dews of Heaven fall bnghiesl and purest, and 
there the fl iwers cprii g and grow in perpetual 
beauty! To you, oh ye departed heroes ! whereso- 
ever ye now rest, we here, in the fullness of onr 
hearts p'>ur forth the tribute of our gratitude and 
our praise. Honored be your names! Loved and 
cherished be your memories forever ! 

"Yon faithful herald's blazoned stone, 

With mournful pride shall tell. 
When many a vanished age halh flown. 

The story, how ye fell. 
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight, 

Nor lime's remorseless doom. 
Shall dim one ray, of glory's light. 

That gilds your deathless lumb." 



IS 



ADDRESS OF HON. F. T FRELINGHUYSEN. 



Ladies and Gentlemen: 

The scene before me seldom baa a parallel. 
That, chaste and beautiTuI monutneDt has a 
mutd (Inquence that I hesitate to disturb. 
On the lower plinth are carved the "arms of 
service." suggesting the nature of the fear- 
ful ordeal through which we have passtd. 
On the next entablature are the names of the 
heroic dead, who nobly died for us and for 
our race. Above these are the arms of that 
gallant State which has alwHjs stood in the 
front rank of the battle for freedom. Then 
comes the shaft of spotlesp. marble, uncarved 
and unlettered, fitly representing the pure 
moral sentiment which h»8 inspired the na- 
tion in the struggle, and enabled her brave 
champions to meet death, not with Spartan 
but with Christian, courage. And capping 
all, the Eagle, after long hovering on anx- 
ious wing, over the Liberty she guards, is 
DOW peacefully at rest, looking towards the 
North from whence were the patriotic sacri- 
fices that rescued her priceless trust. And 
gentle bands have festooned it all with 
•wreaths of flowers, which are, though they 
did not mean it so. fit emblems of the beau- 
ty of their kindly charity and of the fra 
gianoe of ibtir love of country during the 
fearful days of our trial. That monument 
is a claeeioal expression of ideas most elo- 
quent.- 

And around the beautiful structure I see 
a vast assemblage of patriotic men, who, al 
th'Ugh ever and ai>on they heave the unbid- 
den sigh, because their sons are gone from 
them, still have, to-day, hearts overflowinp 
with gratitude that the Nation lives. And 
I see and reverence, too, the mothers and 
fair daughters of America, who, like minis- 
tering angels, have, as never before in tbf 
worlu's l.iftory, allevinted the eufi^frir.gs of 
camp and field. These are they who are of- 
ten startled in their slumbers, as the nit'ht 
wind Bigha about their dwellings, by imagin 
ing that they hear the death crv, the expir- 
ing groan, of their dear boy as he dies alune 
and unattended on the field of battle ; and 
to-day memory brings vividly to mind that 
g'-nial couotenanc, with its smile of love. 
How joyous it would be «gain to grasp that 
hai^ and again to greet him. And yet when 
the g'eat moral sentiment \» evciked and yon 
rememb r that we owe it to our country and 
our God to give life and children and broth- 
ers and all to maiotain civil liberty aad hu- 



man freedom, you would not call them back, 
or if they did return you would at the man- 
date of high duty be ready to give tbem 
again in the same holy cause. 

We meet to-day, my friends, not only to 
honor the three hundred martyrs to Liberty, 
in memorial of whom the beautiful monu- 
ment is reared, but we come also to do ho- 
mage to the great sentiment that made 
them vrilling to die for Liberty. Our im- 
paired intelligence seeks to reduce all events 
to the narrow rule ,of material causes and 
effects: hence we are too often skeptical as 
to those great truths from heavf n, which are 
spiritual and supernatural. And yet the as- 
sociations of this hour suggest how moral 
power subordinates natural forces and cau- 
ses. 

The instinctive love of life, strengthened 
by the dear associations of joyous homes, 
and rendered more strong by the fascinating 
attractions that the world presents to exube- 
rant youth, was the strongest three-fold cord 
with which nature could bind to this earth- 
ly existence the brave men whose heroic 
deeds this structure commemorates — still, 
there wrs a hidden but efiScient power which 
snapped asunder the strongest cm d that na- 
ture could command — and prompted these 
men to choose the cold embrace of death rath- 
er than the joyous fascinations of life. Tho 
power which rendered these men superior 
eveirto the instinct of life and to the love of 
home and kindred was not a link in the con- 
secutive chain that, connects natural causes 
nnd eff<'Cts. It was a piwer operating upon 
that chain and independent of it. It ema- 
nated from the spark of Divinitv that exist- 
ed in their souls, and it controlled and ^ub- 
•rdinated nature. The majesticspirit which 
thuA rises in its superiority has in all ages 
and all climes onmmanded the admiration 
of mankind. The heroes of Faith whoso 
rtongs of triumph have been heard above the 
rush of the flames and crackling of the mar- 
tyr fftggots that surround them have ever 
challeng''d the reverence of men. 

The heroes of our country, who whether 
in fi-^ld or forum, have been animated by a 
patriotic passion which raised them above 
all considerations of splfishneps, ambition or 
fear have been made the nation's idols — been 
made to wear the wreath of laurel, and at 
the mention of their names a thrill of ecsta- 
oy h&B vibrated the hearts of millionB. The 



14 



heroes of liberty laboring not for a g'^nera- 
tioD, but for a race, by the grandeur of their 
UDCOD«oi<JU8 work have gathered to their 
names itnmort«liry. Powers superior to na 
ture — immaterial, may I not Bay eupornatu- 
ral, exiiit not al )ne in the ghostly future. 
They are here. They come from the human 
breast — and when some strong dftermina 
tion eeiaes the soul they Isad to the abnega- 
tion of self, to the ignoring of every perso- 
nal consideration so that every energy unin- 
cumbered and unfettered mwy be driven to 
the Attainment of the coveted result. And 
might I not here interpolate the inquiry, 
that such being the emanations of our own 
breast, is it a thing incredible that from God 
should issue a spiritual iiifluence converting 
man'ri nature? 

Moral sentiment not only governs men, 
moulding their lives and prompting their 
deeds, but it sways and makes the history of 
nations. The theory, too readily received, 
that climate, the level of the earth ami the 
peculiarity of race, creates the diversity that 
exists among nations, I believe is matcrial- 
ietio and infidel. It is moral power wheth- 
er emanating from God, from the human 
breast, or being the inspiration of the na- 
tion, that is the potential power of this uni- 
verse. Where are the nations represented 
by the image seen by the King of Babylon 
in his dream, an image which is the key to 
history? Where are the Babylonians, the 
head of gold ? Where the Persians, the sil- 
ver breast and arms. Where the Macedoni 
ans, thebrazen thighs ? Where the Romans 
the iron legs of the image? Like phantoms 
they are gone. Is it the change in climate, 
in the level uf the earth's surface, or in the 
race ihat has worked their downfall? It is 
neither. It is because they wanted the vi 
talizing inspiration, the conservating senti- 
ment, thatthey died — whilo the moral king- 
dom, "the stone, hewn out of the mourltain 
without hand," is filling the earth. What 
was the sentiment th'^t at its origin, inspir- 
ed this nation ? Pilgrim men with stern re- 
ligious faith and who would bow the knee 
to God, and to Him alone, who made the 
Bible law, placed their feet on Plymouth. 
From the free cities of Holland those who 
held religious toleranop as a principle of gov- 
ernment, and who made their land red with 
blood, and then washed it with the ocean's 
wavfs rather than submit to tyranny, landed 
on Manhattan. And the IIue?enot, robbed 
of fortune but not of faith and courage came. 
Their principles c«me with them, and the 
iofiuz of other nations was not to great as 
to overwhelm those principles until firmlv 
rooted. These men made the great prinoi 
pies of cifil liberty and ohriBliaa faith the 



foundation of this nation. On that founda- 
tion it stands, and may it stand forever. 

Follow the nation a step further. When 
this young nation with two or three millions 
of people, without effioient centralz-d gov- 
ernment, without manufactures, coromereo 
or navy, engnged in battle with the world's 
most powerful nation, what was it secured 
the victory ? Simply the sublime purpose 
of establishing on tins Western hemisphere 
a nation where man should govern himself, 
where he should worship God according to 
the dictates of his own conscience, and 
where the oppressed of all the world should 
find an asylum and a home. In the moral 
strength of their cause, and with God for 
their ally they contended, they bled, they 
conquered. 

And later, when this /Aen powerful nation 
was engaged in the heroic ffi"'rt to maintain 
its existence, the struggle was fearfully equal, 
mens' hearts failed them, and those best in- 
formed grew pale. Then the rugged and 
toilsome band ol Abraham Lincoln inscrib- 
ed it tbat four millions of God's creatures 
should be free, and an alliance was eflfected 
with a silent, though potent power, which 
made victory certain. Our cause then be- 
came the cause of Heaven. "The ensigns 
of war became the banners of God," and 
death was only martyrdom. Folly came to 
the councils of our foe, and madness to their 
hearts, and the elements made them their 
sport, while the champions of freedom, man to 
man and heart to heart, went oaftrcbing on to 
victory. In further illustration of the mrstio 
power of moral sentimenton nationi:,! might 
point to the grandeur to which England rose 
when she made it true that a slave could not 
breathe in England : and how we have seen 
her, as I be'ieve, begin her descent to a se- 
condary position on the earth, when she sd-' 
judged that civil liberty and human freednnit 
were lighter than the cotton coveted by her' 
avarice. I might call your attention tO' 
how we have seen Russia assuming a high- 
er place among nations, just when, at great 
sacrifire, she abolished her serfdom, and al- 
so gave her sympathy, and was ready to give 
her strength, in aid of our struggle to main- 
tain this Iree government. But I forbear. 
Only let me say that, if we would maintain 
the glory ol our country, we must ever see' 
to it that our country is right. It was the 
sense of obligation pressing upon the great 
American heart, that civil liberty must be 
here preserved, at all hazards, that inspired 
and carried the nation through the recent 
confiiot, and thatled the brave men. to whom 
I desire to pay a trib'ite, to their illustpioua 
deeds and heroic deaths. To that great sen- 
timent we dedioate this shaft. 



15 



In the narrow dffile between Mount Oela 
and the Maliac Gulf, known &s the pass of 
Thermopylae, contending for the liberties oi 
Greece, against th? hosts of Persia, Leoni- 
das and his three hundred Spartan follow- 
ers, band to hand in the conflict, dearly sold 
their lives — and there, too, a monument of 
marble was erected, bearing this celebrated 
inscription — 

•Stranger, the tidings to the Spartans tell 
That here, obeying their commands, we fell." 
With equal courage, and in obedience to 
the bublime sentiment of the nation, while 
fighting for the liberties of America, these 
gallant men of Glouces'er, have fillen. And 
methinks that now, from every battlefield 
of liberty, I hear a voice calling to me— 
•'Biolher, the tidings to our kindred tell 
That here, obeying their commands, we lell." 
Yes ! brave, illustrious men, in the hear 
ing of your bereaved fathers and doting 
mothers, in the hearing of tender sistfr. and 
of her whose image on a brave soldier's 
ilieart was worn, I proclaim how faithfully 
you fulfilled that st rn command, that this 
great nation must live, though you should 
die. It was not the iron slavery of disci- 
pline that held you steady in the perilous 
ranks. The reckless habits of the camp had 
not rendered you stolid or indifferent to dan- 
ger. No ; you were brave end self-sacrific- 
ing for liberty's and conscience's sake. It 
was not your want of appreciation of your 
situation, but your sensativeness to it, that 
made you heroes, Sensiiive? Yea, The 
night bfti>re the battle— wrapped in your 
blanket, with rifle in giasp, more wakeful 
than asleep, you rest on the cold earth 
What virions of home, with all its familiar 
bcenes, are present to you. Y<m (eel the 
caress of the young wife, dispelling every 
care ; you hepr thesoft cadence of that moth- 
er's voice which has so often calmed your 
anxieties; that Tcung. fair haired boy takes 
your hand and calls y'>u brother. 

Suddenly the summons for battle comes, 
and starting, for a little while from yi.ur 
resting place, which is soon to become your 
peaceful couch for the long years of time 
you at-k, "Is this all a dream?" '-When 
shall I see that home ?" "Sh.ill I hear that 
voice and feel the soft pressure of that hand 
again ?" "God grant that I may, but if I do 
not, heaven's blessing rest on ibem, on my 
soul and on my country." The line of bat 
tie moves on— and "without entrenchment 
to cover or walls to shield thpm" they meet 
the raking volley, and the brave heroes of 
Gloucester f.UI, dying. Patriot dead! we 
have spoken of earthly, may we ask you of 
heavenly things? The events of generations 



concentrate in this your final hour. Aristo- 
cratic pride has long made war on freedom 
for the people. Sable mothers in lonn lines 
of descent, from their weary pallets of straw, 
have cried to the God of Sabbaoth for deliv- 
erance until at last that cry was heard. And 
tell us now, did the God. who delivered those 
in whose cause you died, desert you in your 
severe extremitv ? Was there not beside you 
on the gloomy field, One with voice sweeter 
than thatof mothers whispering in your ear. 
a name : at the sound of which for 1800 
years, the almost pulseless heart has thrill- 
ed with a joy before unknown? And with 
the mention of that name, did not a vision 
open to your view, no, did not a reality come 
to \our possession, swe- tft- and brigher 
than your home vision of the night? No an- 
diwer comes to my inquiry — but that silence 
has an eloquence that faith can hear. It 
tells the story of a serpent raised in the wil- 
derness to which the "^ying Israelite, while 
the virus rankled in his veins, look.^d and 
lived. It tells of the tears that once were 
shed at the tomb of a friend, which soon 
was to bp anim'tte with life. It hears the 
words "Weep not" uttered to the chief 
mourner of a funerol procession, as the only 
son of a widowed mother was restored. To 
these and many such utterancps Faith finds 
an answer to the inquiry, and then says to 
every anxious thought, "Be still and trust 
in G"od." 

Fellow countrymen, imperishable as is 
yonder monument, the events it commemo- 
rates V ill live longer in human beans than 
it will endure. It is reared not only as a 
fitting tribute to the dead, but to perpetuate 
with the living the spirit which has so glo- 
riously rescued our country. When those 
whose t.ames are inscribed, expired upon 
the fipld. their work was not done. They live 
in the 1p88( ns of patriotism they leave be- 
hind them ; lessons which when the day of 
trial again shall come, will inspire other ci- 
tiz'u-heroes to march forth for our deliver- 
enc,e. Yes, tbev live, too, in that existence 
to which this is but the vestibule. They arose 
to the height of their great duty, and the he- 
roic discharge of duty here, better prepares 
all for the grander and ;nobler callings of 
abetter life. We too will soon all rest in 
our graves, but will our lives, as theirs, 
have brought a rich harvest of blessings to 
our race? If they will not, while we may 
shed o'er them a tear of grstitude. our graves 
should be moistened with the tear of pity. 
Rest, noble men, unnumbered thousands are 
your debtors. 

Ft How countrymen— respect for the dead, 
calls upon me to spend a minute in alluding 
to one or two of the duties that in this aus- 



ie 



picioue crisis of the cniintry devnlvs on thp 
livintr. It is our duty, to see ti it, that as 
«ipon as is consistent with the firm esMblish- 
ment of the measures the war has evolved, 
and with our permanent peace and secuiity . 
that the symmetry of the nation shall bo re 
stored by securing t) the inRurreotionAry 
States full governmental rights. The sue- 
oepB of our great experiment of government, 
our comnierciil prosperi'y and the restora- 
tion of that kindly leeling, which, if we 
would be strong, must ng^in knit us togpth- 
er, all demand this Let the day soon cnmf 
when each member of this Republic sbiill be 
the guardian of the wellare of every mem- 
ber. Rising above the spirit of revenge, 
curbing every T>assinn except the I've of 
cinntry, let us h isten to restore to 12,C00 • 
000 the privileges of whieh we have so stern- 
ly refused to permit 4,000,000 to be depriv- 
ed. 

And the duty, too, rests upon us to see to 
it, that all over this land, with its enlarged 
freedom, but ispfcially at the Siuth, the 
bles'sings of education :ind religion shnll be 
liberally bestowel uoon th* people. The in 
ternal restraints of thete irifluences is the 
proper Buhstitute for the exfrnal restrain i 
of the present necessary military rule. And 
for reasons bi>th political and moral, bu( 
which I cannot stay to spec.fy, these blesM- 
ings should be the fruit of piivate benevo- 
lence raiher than of any legal or constitu- 
tional enactment. The unbonnd"d fi^H thus 
opened, is alike inviting to Putriot, Pnilan- 
thropii-t and Christiin. Just as the gentlt^ 
shower, the balmy nir and the genial rays 
of spring have n)(>re power than the Atonns 
and hoar frot^ts of winter to restore the fruit- 
ful verdure of the earth, so these kinoly in- 
fluencen will do more to revive the harmony 
and fellowship of the nation than the rigid 
enfiircment of stern oonfi-ication and (lis 
franchising jii-tice. These ooun<*el8 1 dare 
adv'ince in ttie presence of that memorial o 
the martyred dead, because they are the sen- 
timent of that happy iHnd where we t»ust 
they now dwell. But as mercy hnrmonizs 
with justice in the attributes of Ilitn who 
alone is perfect, so the spirit I advocate Aoc^ 
not conflict with the proper vindication of 
violated law. One word more, and I am 
dooe. 

We must continue not only to love, but to 
be j alous of the Union. It is the central 
idea, the heart of our political orgxniz ition, 
and it bad pulaatiun before the members to 



which it now thriws vitalitv were fully for- 
med. In a modifi-»d firm it exis'ed as soon 
as society ha1 a political existenc. And the 
love of the Union has wiih all true men 
strengthened with .ur growth ; to defend it 
has been poured forth the young blood of a 
free people. 

It has cost too much now. ever to give it 
up. It will be perpetu illy preserved. But 
there are perils yet bffire it that will de- 
mand the wisdom and resolution of those 
who love it. I see in the future, metropoli- 
tan cities, commercial, mineral and agricul- 
tural wealth, the riches of the Indies gath- 
ered by a commerce with A-ia. and a vast 
population in nfi-iement and luxury eoj ty- 
ing this unparall^d wealth on the Pacific 
slope of this Continent. Will ambition be 
there ? Will the love of .>m pi re and the lust 
of power be there? Will ihe plau-*ihle plea 
that our terrif iry is too extended f ir one 
government be interposed ? — a plea that will 
fver be false while the integrity of our Stite 
governments is preserved. Stiould such $ 
divii«ion ever be mile, with it would come 
long lines of fortifi^;ati<)ns and revenue sta- 
tions, a military estatflishmentand standing 
armies, takinit for yeirs a son from every 
household. Wars would come, and the ap- 
prehension of them. A necessary aui;mcD- 
tation of power in the hands of the Execu- 
tive, rendering monarchy easy nnd proba- 
ble. The advantages of our insul«ted siiua- 
tioo, and the magic charm of Union would 
be gone ; and the pence, the liberty and 
p asperity of 'he individual citizen and of 
the nation wiull be reduced to iho condi- 
tion of the European Continent. It must 
not, it will not be. Ambition may mnke the 
attempt, but the nol)lii men of the Pacific 
jnd of the West, ind there are none nobler, 
j lining with their oopatriots of the Atlantic 
and t: e East, will crush the treason — while 
the public ways across the continent, bind- 
ing us together with bands of iron, are eve- 
ry year weakening the phyBioal argument 
for disunion. 

But nevertheless, ever be jealous of the 
Union, It is the bulwark of civil liberty for 
the world. Tell your children to guard it, 
and if needs be, to die for it, for what bless- 
ings for time and for eternity are dependent 
upon Civil Liberty! Illustrious dead, you 
died to preserve it! You could not have 
bartered your lives for a treasure moro 
priceless I 



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